Brits Down Under: Burgess stars for Rabbitohs, Sutton makes Raiders return & Graham helps Dragons win

We have taken a look at how the British contingent got on in round five of the NRL.

Ryan Sutton

After the late exclusion of Corey Horsbrough due to injury, the door was left open for the former Wigan forward to return for Canberra. The 25-year-old certainly did not disappoint either and must have given Ricky Stuart plenty to think about as Sutton put in plenty of work from both an offensive and defensive standpoint, running for 120 metres from 12 carries while racking up 17 tackles to his name.

Herbie Farnworth

Despite the agonising loss to Manly on Thursday, it was much better effort from a Brisbane side that was on the end of their biggest ever loss only the week before. The Broncos will no doubt be kicking themselves that they could not come away with the win after leading 18-0, but their youngsters still showed their worth with Farnworth putting in another lively and hard running performance. Overall, he saw plenty of the ball in hand as he racked up 143 metres from 16 carries, with 44 metres coming post contact.

Tom Burgess

The Rabbitohs completed a great bounce back victory over the Titans. In an all-round dominant display, the Bunnies were bolstered by the return of Cody Walker who proved to be instrumental alongside the likes of Latrell Mitchell at full-back.

Burgess was also at his absolute best after putting forth a disruptive ball running display that we have become used to seeing from the powerful prop forward throughout his career. By the end of the game, he was South Sydney’s leading metre maker in the game with 196 to his name, with 71 metres coming after contact along with putting in a great defensive effort with 27 tackles to his name.

George Williams

It may have been a difficult start to the game for Canberra but they grew further into the game and constantly knocked on the door before taking full advantage of a Tigers sin-bin to go from being 4-0 down to being 12-4 up. The 25-year-old added another try assist to his season tally with a perfectly slotted kick through the defence to find Nick Cotric on the right edge. That set up also sees the ex-Wigan man join Shaun Johnson, Cameron Smith and Tom Trbojevic at the top of the try assists charts for the season with six to his name. The talented half-back also showed once again he is not one to shy away from the action after another solid defensive display with 24 tackles to his name.

James Graham

The Dragons registered a win after an inspiring performance against Cronulla on Sunday. For the second week in a row, Graham put together another solid and hard working effort on both sides of the ball, with the 34-year-old running for 124 metres from 16 carries while making 24 tackles in the process.

Josh Hodgson

As mentioned before, the Raiders certainly had their struggles in the game against the Tigers but their class and constant relentlessness shone through in the end, with Hodgson working wonders alongside the likes of Jack Wighton to lead Canberra to a hard fought win. In an all too familiar sight, Hodgson was on top defensively in putting up 38 tackles and again cementing himself as his side’s top tackler so far this year with 191 – a number that also puts him inside the top 10 for the entire league.

Elliott Whitehead

The 30-year-old continues to be a leader in the Canberra back-row. The former Bradford and Catalans star was his hard working self in defence and was noticeably a big voice in the Raiders’ forward pack. All in all, Whitehead made 32 tackles throughout the game, taking his tally for the season to 144 and placing himself as Canberra’s third highest tackler so far this year.

Ryan Hall didn’t feature for Sydney Roosters against Canterbury on Monday while John Bateman continues to recover from further shoulder surgery.

Watch NRL and live stream every NRL game to keep up with how Tom Burgess, John Bateman, Ryan Sutton, Elliott Whitehead, James Graham, George Williams and all the others are getting on Down Under.

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